


Love Never Dies

by The_Official_Girl_Wonder (chellachaz)



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 18:12:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4676423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chellachaz/pseuds/The_Official_Girl_Wonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zatanna was remembering her dad. She needed the music to stop. Robin was remembering his parents. He needed the music to continue. Actually, they both just needed to heal. They needed someone to share with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Never Dies

" _Would you know my name…if I saw you in Heaven?"_

Zatanna walked down the halls of Mount Justice absently wondering where the music was coming from. Mostly though, she focused on pushing back the tears as memories of her father threatened to overwhelm her.

'Or are they just whelming me?' she thought, smiling slightly.

However, her smile quickly faded as she decided, 'No, I'm definitely overwhelmed…Heavy on the over.'

" _Would it be the same…?"_

There was that voice again. She couldn't remember ever hearing it before.

"… _if I saw you in Heaven?"_

Wherever it originated from, she wanted it to stop. This song reminded her too much of her dad.

* * *

" _Daddy! Daddy!"_

_A small, raven-haired girl of about five or six ran up to a tall man with a mustache. The man smiled as he turned and outstretched his arms towards the child. The girl squealed as her father picked her up and held her lovingly._

" _Yes, my little Zatanna? What is it?" he asked._

_The girl, Zatanna, giggled as she held up a piece of paper with paint splattered all over it. "We did finger-painting in class today!"_

" _Oh, really? What did you paint?" asked her father._

" _You have to guess!" Zatanna said sternly._

" _Do I now? Okay…Is it…a flower?"_

" _No, Daddy! It's an elephant!" the child corrected, looking upset._

" _Ah, of course!" said Giovanni, "Well, I knew it was an elephant from the beginning, my dear."_

" _Then why did you say it was a flower?" Zatanna asked, still pouting._

" _I was distracted, you see? I was too busy admiring another little flower."_

_Zatanna looked all around the room for a flower. Not finding one, she asked, "What little flower, Daddy?"_

" _I was looking at the most beautiful flower in the world," Giovanni said with a warm smile that seemed to brighten the whole room, "A little flower called Zatanna."_

* * *

Zatanna's tears began to flow, unwanted, at that memory. She remembered how her dad always looked at her as though she were his treasure, his heart, and his life.

His flower.

" _I must be strong…"_

That voice again! She needed to stop it. The sooner she forgot those memories, the sooner the pain would go away…right?

"… _and carry on…'cuz I know…I don't belong…here in Heaven."_

She was getting closer. The voice came from somewhere in this corridor.

* * *

Dick Grayson sat on his bed in Mount Justice. He had his door closed. He wore civvies today, and neither sunglasses nor a mask covered his eyes. No, today the bright blue eyes that distinguished Dick Grayson from Robin could be seen clearly, along with the tears that poured from them.

He hated this day. He hated what happened years ago when he was just nine years old, but he could remember it as though it were an hour ago. His memory was a curse.

He remembered the lights...the crowd…the animals…the colors…his parents' smiles…

'No,' he told himself, 'Stop right there. Don't remember that.'

But when did his mind ever listen to him?

Now, he remembered the screams…the horror on his mother's face and the regret on his father's…the gasps of the crowd…the cry that died on his tongue as he reached out his hand…to try to keep them from falling…to try to keep them alive…the sound of bones cracking and the sight of blood flowing onto the dirt floor…

'No!'

It had all come back to him so quickly. Dick clutched his head, digging his fingernails into his flesh in an attempt to drown out the pain that coursed through him. He wanted to scream, but the most he could do was sob.

So, he sobbed, and began singing again.

" _Would you hold my hand…"_ he sang, his body racked with pure emotion, _"…if I saw you in Heaven? Would you help me stand…if I saw you in Heaven?"_

The tears continued to flow, but his voice grew stronger, as though he were making a promise.

" _I'll find my way…through night and day…'cuz I know…I just can't stay…here in Heaven!"_

* * *

„ _Mami,_ _ce_ _faci_ _?"_ _(Mommy, what are you doing?) asked a little boy who looked about four or five years old._

„ _Fac_ _doar_ _micul dejun_ _, robin_ _meu mai mic_ _," (I'm just making breakfast, my little robin.) replied a beautiful young woman with light brown hair that dropped past her shoulders._

„ _Nu-mi_ _asta!" (Stop calling me that!) the child shouted, his mood suddenly dampened._

_The woman turned with a surprised frown on her face, and asked „Ce_ _?_ _Robin_ _?" (What? Robin?)_

„ _Da," (Yes) the boy repied, crossing his tiny arms and pouting._

_The woman knelt down and brushed some jet black hair out of her son's face. She then asked, „_ _De ce_ _?_ _I_ _-am_ _numit întotdeauna_ _voi care_ _," (Why? I've always called you that.)_

_At that moment, a tall, strong man with short black hair entered the family's trailer. His smile faded upon seeing his son's upset countenance. He asked,_ _„_ _Ce_ _e în neregulă_ _?" (What's wrong?)_

_The woman, Mary, told her husband, „_ _Dick nu_ _vrea_ _să_ _-l numim_ _mai_ _robin_ _." (Dick doesn't want me to call him robin anymore.)_

„ _De ce_ _?" (Why?) John asked._

„ _Unele dintre_ _copiii_ _de la_ _show-ul_ _trecut a făcut_ _mişto de mine_ _pentru ea_ _," (Some of the kids at our last show made fun of me for it.) Dick mumbled, looking down at his feet, „_ _Ei au_ _auzit_ _Mama_ _spune-mi_ _că_ _,_ _şi_ _mi-au_ _spus că_ _a fost o_ _porecla_ _copil_ _," (They heard Mom call me that, and they told me it was a baby nickname.)_

_Tears welled up in the boy's eyes, but when he looked up, he saw his parents smiling softly._

„ _Cred ca aceste_ _copii_ _au fost_ _gelos_ _." (I think those kids were jealous.) his mother said matter-of-factly._

„ _De ce_ _-ar_ _fi_ _gelos?" (Why would they be jealous?) Dick asked, confused._

_„Pentru că," his father answered, „Ei nu pot zbura ca tine poate." (Because they can't fly like you can.)_

* * *

" _Time can bring you down…Time can bend your knees."_

Dick smiled, remembering how he was his parents' light, their love, and their joy.

Their robin.

He needed to express his feelings somehow. If he kept singing, the pain would go away…right?

" _Time can break your heart…have you begging please…begging please…"_

He stopped singing when he heard a soft knock on his door. He hastily wiped his tears, put on his shades, and went to greet whoever was there.

When Robin opened the door, he and Zatanna just stood there for a moment, regarding each other. Both had obviously been crying. Zatanna's eyes were puffy and red, and she looked tired. Robin's eyes were covered, but his face was still wet from tears, and he kept sniffling.

"Um…" Zatanna said, "Robin, were you just singing?"

"Uh, yeah," Robin answered, "Sorry, was I disturbing you?"

"No, it's just…What song was that?"

"Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton,"

"Oh…It's nice."

"Yeah,"

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Zatanna spoke again.

"I've never heard you sing before,"

Robin blushed slightly and put a hand behind his neck, "I don't usually let people hear me sing."

"…So, uh…why were you singing today?"

"I just…" Should he tell her? "I was remembering some people I lost…Singing helps me a lot when…You know."

She did know.

"Oh…" Zatanna said, "When I heard you sing…it made me remember my dad."

"Oh." Robin looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry. I just…I guess I should have thought about-"

"You don't need to apologize," Zatanna interrupted, realizing that while she did want the pain to go away, she wanted to keep the memories. She wanted to have those forever, even if they couldn't get her dad back. "It made me remember something I'd forgotten…So, thanks."

Robin smiled, "…You're welcome, I guess."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure,"

They both sat down on Robin's bed, and Zatanna saw a photo of a young couple: a well-built man with black hair and a beautiful woman with long brown hair and bright blue eyes.

Robin almost face-palmed when he saw her looking at the picture. 'I should have hidden that before opening the door,' he thought.

"Are these…um…the people you lost?" Zatanna asked, and then hastily added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Robin took the photo and stared at it for a while before answering, "Yeah, they're my mom and dad."

"Oh."

Neither knew what to say, until…

"So, was your dad a cool guy, Z?" Robin asked, and then mentally smacked himself for saying "was". Zatara wasn't dead, so he shouldn't have used past-tense to describe him, especially not around Zatanna.

Zatanna smiled, not seeming to notice. "The coolest. One time, he even showed me how to use magic to help me with my math homework. He wouldn't let me use it on tests, though." She laughed, remembering how baffled her teacher had been when she kept dosing off in class, but kept doing so well on assignments.

Robin smiled brightly. "My parents were the same way. My dad once told me I was the smartest person in the whole cir-…I mean, the area where we lived. Then, my mom pretended to get upset at him for "giving me a swelled head," but she practically said the same thing not two minutes later just to tease Dad."

The two teens smiled contently and laughed as they continued to share stories about their parents, although Robin kept his stories fairly vague and didn't use any names.

Finally, Zatanna asked the question that had been on her mind for a while.

"Hey, Robin?"

"Hm?"

"How does the rest of the song go?"

* * *

" _Beyond the door…There's peace, I'm sure…and I know…There'll be no more…tears in Heaven,"_ Robin sang.

" _Would you know my name,"_ sang Zatanna, joining him for the last verse, _"if I saw you in Heaven...? Would it be the same…if I saw you in Heaven?"_

Deep in their hearts, both knew that if Giovanni, John, and Mary could see them, they'd be smiling.

" _I must be strong…and carry on…'cuz I know…I don't belong…here in Heaven..."_

Love never dies.

"' _Cuz I know…I don't belong…here in Heaven."_


End file.
